wonder what it was about the other man that made him feel so competitive. Willow? That would be extremely foolish.
Willow sighed and placed her napkin on top of her plate. “Did they ask for me only, or Ruben, also?”
“Both of you.” Waiting, the page dropped her eyes.
“That’s what I thought.” She stood, motioning to Ruben, who rose also. Chad, he noted, remained seated.
As they followed the page, Willow leaned close. “I’m worried about this. Whatever you do, don’t ask if I can go with you.”
Surprised, he cocked a brow. “Why not?”
“Because I don’t want them to forbid me. I’m going anyway and I’d rather not have to openly defy them.”
“Makes sense,” he said, even though to him, it did not. But then he thought of his sister Alisa. She’d done whatever she wanted, consequences be damned, and had nearly gotten killed in the process.
He couldn’t take the risk of that happening to Willow. “You know, I’ve been rethinking the idea of your accompanying me,” he said. “Maybe I should take Chad instead.”
That got her attention. She stopped, crossing her arms and glaring at him. “You can’t be that obtuse. Chad is the last person you’d want to trust to have your back.”
So she had sensed something about Chad. “Why do you say that?” he asked, hoping she’d elaborate.
“I don’t know. But something about him reminds me of my sister,” she said darkly.
The page, having proceeded several feet without them, turned and waited impatiently for them to catch up.
At the door to the throne room, she left them, whispering a quick “Good luck” to Willow, who winced.
“Are you ready?” Willow asked, the slight tremor in her voice the only hint of her agitation.
He nodded and they stepped inside.
* * *
Once inside the space she privately thought of as the display room, Willow marched up the carpet—red, of course—with Ruben at her side. Though she would have liked nothing better than to take his hand in hers as a visible show of support, she knew such a gesture could be viewed in a wrong way. She didn’t want to take a chance of doing anything that could jeopardize Ruben’s position.
“We have given thought to your request to be allowed to question our people,” King Puck intoned.
Willow noted how her mother’s smile dripped with malice and stiffened. This was so not going to be pleasant.
“I have decided to allow you, Prince Ruben of Teslinko, to conduct your investigation,” the king continued. “You may search not only in the lands that immediately surround our castle, but all of our lands, all the way to those that border the four directions.”
So far so good. Again, Willow glanced at her mother. The queen looked positively gleeful.
“Thank you, your Highness.” Ruben executed a perfect bow. “If I may, I’ll start with your castle this very night. I should be done before dawn, at which point, if I’ve found nothing here, I’ll make ready to get on my way.”
“I’m not finished,” King Puck said, his arrogant tone grating on Willow’s nerves. “I will allow you to proceed with some conditions. First, our visiting EastWard prince, Prince Chad, has asked that he be allowed to accompany you once you go outside the castle. I have also decided to honor his request.”
Chad? What in the shades...? Willow exchanged a glance with Ruben. Judging from the hard set of his jaw, he was as displeased—and shocked—as she was.
Chad had outplayed them. The question was, why would Chad even want to accompany them? Willow looked up to find Queen Millicent watching her closely, her bright violet eyes glinting with spite. As she surveyed her mother, Willow realized the woman knew she’d planned to go along with Ruben.
Even so, why Chad?
And what of Chad? Glancing over her shoulder, she saw him standing in the back of the room, stone-faced, arms crossed, his dimmed-down beauty looking slightly out of place despite his tanned skin and purple eyes.
For the first time, she realized what others saw when they looked at her. Even though her eyes were brown and her skin dusky, she must look out of place to all the fair-haired, violet-eyed Brights.
As she met his gaze, he dropped his gaze. She couldn’t read his expression so she had no way of knowing what he was thinking. Since they’d just run into him a short while ago and he hadn’t seen fit to mention this, she had to think he had some other reason for asking to accompany Ruben.